"I Recall a Gypsy Woman" is a song written by

Bob McDill Robert Lee McDill (born April 4, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, active from the 1960s until 2000. During his career he wrote or co-wrote 31 number one country hits. His songs were also recorded by popular artists of the 1970s, 1980s an ...

and

Allen Reynolds Allen Reynolds (born August 18, 1938) is an American record producer and songwriter who specializes in country music. He has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum. Biography Early ...

, and originally recorded by

Don Williams Donald Ray Williams (May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was an American country singer, songwriter, and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He began his solo career in 1971, singing popular ballads and amassing seventeen number ...

in 1973. In 1976, at the height of the country and western boom in Britain, his version charted at number 13 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, the best position for Williams on this chart. The song was previously the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of Williams' 1973 single "Atta Way to Go", which peaked at number 13 on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart in 1973.

Cover versions

In 1973, country singer

Tommy Cash Tommy Cash (born April 5, 1940) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. His elder brother was Johnny Cash. Biography Cash was born in Dyess, Arkansas, United States, the youngest of four sons and three daughters of Ray and Carrie (Ri ...

, the younger brother of

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

recorded his

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the song as a non-album release. It reached number 16 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Country chart. In 1975,

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

covered it in his album '' Dreaming My Dreams''. In 1977,

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. W ...

interpreted the song with his version being the opening track of the album '' Lonesome Road'' jointly released by Doc Watson and guitarist

Merle Watson Eddy Merle Watson (February 8, 1949 – October 23, 1985) was an American folk and bluegrass guitarist. He was best known for his performances with his father, Doc Watson. Merle played and recorded albums together with his father from age 15 unti ...

. In 1977, Berni Flint covered it. It was a track from his 1977 album ''I Don't Want to Put a Hold On You''. In 1981,

B.J. Thomas Billy Joe Thomas (August 7, 1942 – May 29, 2021) was an American singer widely known for his pop, country and Christian hits of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Popular songs by Thomas include "Hooked on a Feeling" (1968), "Raindrops Keep Fallin' ...

covered it in his covers album ''Some Love Songs Never Die''. The album was produced by Larry Butler. In 2007,

Chuck Prophet Charles William Prophet (born June 28, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. A Californian, Prophet first achieved notice in the American psychedelic/desert rock group Green on Red, with whom he toured and rec ...

covered it on his album ''Dreaming Waylon's Dream'', a track-by-track covers album of Waylon's ''Dreaming My Dream''. It has also been covered by South African singer

Ricus Nel Ricus Nel is an Afrikaans musician, singer and songwriter. His debut album, ''Sak en Pak'' was released on 15 August 2011 by Select-musiek. He is famous for the ability to have mastered 13 instruments. His second album "Sout van die Aarde" was re ...

, accompanied by a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

directed by Christian Wolf.Select Music YouTube Channel: Ricus Nel - "I Recall a Gypsy Woman
/ref> The song is the opening track of Nel's 2014 cover album ''Ricus Nel Sing Don Williams & Ander Country legendes''.

References

1976 singles Don Williams songs Songs written by Bob McDill Songs written by Allen Reynolds 1973 songs {{1970s-country-song-stub